The Queen’s Speech today outlined the government’s proposals for legislation on employment law for the next year. These are the main points, taken from the Cabinet Office’s background notes (page references are to that document):

Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill

“Strengthen UK employment law by tackling National Minimum Wage abuses and cracking down on abuse in zero hours contracts.” (p18)

“Stop highly paid public sector employees keeping redundancy payments when they come back to the same part of the public sector within a short period of time.” (p18)

The speech itself also referred to legislation to “reduce delays in employment tribunals”. There is no mention of that in the background notes document, although the Employment Tribunals Act 1996 is mentioned as being relevant legislation.

National Insurance Contributions Bill

Changes to the national insurance rules for the self-employed.

Private Pensions Bill

Introducing new “defined ambition” pension schemes (p35).

Modern Slavery Bill

Consolidating the law on slavery and human trafficking, and increasing penalties for offences (p60).

Service Complaints Bill

Introducing an Ombudsman for complaints made within the armed forces (p67).